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Progress is being made in arranging for the
Southern Christian Citizenship Conference, un
der the auspices of the Civic League of Amer
ica. to be held at the auditorium in Atlanta
September 19, 20, 21, 1913. Able speakers
have been engaged, some of them of national
reputation. Many of the topics for discussion
will be found in the following-
Education of public opinion and quickening
of the popular conscience. Character develop
ment in our public schools. Co-operation of the
Family, the Church and the State. The moral
personality of th e State. The Sabbath. The
ethical and economical evils of war. Practical
patriotism. Crime and lawlessness. Intemper
ance. Social service. Child welfare. Wom
an suffrage. The moral accountability of na
tions. Divorce and social welfare. Persona]
evangelism. Regeneration of immortal souls.
Universal prosperity . Social environment and
moral progress. Christ and his law the only
remedy. Children’s rights. Women’s rights.
The rights of property. Human rights or the
brotherhood of man. Should we permit our
children to continue “reading dirt?” The
modern dance, or “from the ballroom to hell.”
’Haint had much winter as one might say
Yet I’ve been feelin’ all the day
As if somehow I’d like to see
The spring time come for you and me.
I ain’t no growler ’cause its wet
An will not fuss an’ whine an’ yet,
’Way down deep in this heart o’ mine
I keep on wishin’ for the summer-time.
When the sap climbs to the top o’ the trees
An the sap-sucker hunts his bugs and bees.
Whenever I see the buds a bustin’
I think o’ my fish hook lyin’ a rustin’
An’ feel the sap—not in the trees,
But a climbin ’ up me ’bove my knees.
In my dreams most every night
I see my cork sing out o’ sight
An’ feel the tug o’ a pull that’s fine
An’ wake up a wishin' for the summer-time.
The Veteran McGhee Brothers, Famous Methodist Preachers
DR. JOHN B. M’GEHEE, SIXTY-ONE YEARS IN THE AC TIVE MINISTRY, AND DR. E. H. M’GEHEE CELEBRATES
IN COLUMBUS, GA., HIS FIFTY-FIFTH YEAR AS A METHODIST ITINERANT.
THE South Georgia Conference
boasts the most remarkable pair
of preacher brothers in all the land.
They are Dr. J. B. McGehee, eighty
years old, now the beloved pastor of
the Methodist church at Oglethorpe,
Ga., and Dr. E. H. McGehee, now ac
tive in the ministry as the highly suc
cessful pastor of East Highlands Meth
odist church, Columbus, Ga.
Bless the dear old hearts! Every
body loves and honors the “McGehee
boys” as they are pleasantly called.
Last Sunday in Columbus, Rev. E. H.
McGehee celebrated his 55th anniver
sary as a preacher and The Ledger
gives the following delightful sketch
of these brave old brother-veterans of
the cross:
One Out of Twenty-Nine.
Rev. E. H. McGehee was admitted
to the South Georgia conference in
Columbus fifty-five years ago next
Southern Christian Citizenship Conference
THE GOLDEN AGE FOR WEEK OF AUG. 28
A censorship of music in connection with in
decent songs. The city for the people. Mu
nicipal reform. Which is best, the Atlanta,
the Birmingham or the Dayton form of muni
cipal government? The hand that rocks the
cradle. Our boys and girls, and posterity. The
power of righteous public sentiment. A revi
val of ( hristian religion needed from ocean
to ocean. The relation of home mission work
to national life and welfare.
With especial sincerity the Civic League
of America invites the interest and co-opera
tion of public spirited citizens because this is
a conference looking toward constructive ef
forts to remedy evils which beset human so
ciety. We have been spending millions of dol
lars lor penal and eleemosynary institutions
where we have been spending but little for the
remedy of the conditions which make necessary
such institutions.
From this conference, with a definite pur
pose to seek a solution for these problems,
we may expect constructive work to be ac
complished. It offers an unusual opportunity,
and the Southern States, so rich in natural re
sources and material progress, are invited to
JUST A THINKIN’
When the blossoms bloom an' the air gits soft
It sets me to thinkin’ o’ the big-house loft
Where, as a boy, I used to creep
When I got so lazy I wanted to sleep.
Was a thinkin’ today o’ the days since then
An' almost wishin’ I could live again
The care-free life o’ a little boy
So full o’ hope an’ rich with joy.
This growin’ old kinder pesters me
An’ makes me wish I could alius be
Strong an’ ready to bear life’s load
An’ help some other on the lonesome road.
This bein’ a burden when the shadders fall
An’ you sit a waitin’ for the sea to call
You across the bar to another clime
Makes me wish for the summer-time.
Visions look forward to untrod ways
November, the annual conference hav
ing been held in this town that year.
Os the class of twenty-nine, who were
admitted to the conference at the
same time, Mr. McGehee was admit
ted, he is the only one living who is
engaged in active pastoral work.
He was admitted to the ministry in
1858 and since that time he has served
two years as a missionary to the ne
groes, ten years on circuits, fifteen
years as a presiding elder and twenty
eight years on circuits.
For the past sixty years, he has not
been confined to his home as long as
four days at a time on account of
illness and it is probable that there
is not a man in the conference today
who does more real work than he, in
making pastoral visits, preaching twice
each Sunday, conducting prayer ser
vices, funerals and performing mar
riage ceremonies. He has united in
By C. A. RIDLEY.
marriage twenty couples since coming
to Columbus last December.
He is at present doing a great work,
and on the occasion of his last birth,
day, which occurred recently, he
preached two sermons, made a talk at
Sunday school and addressed a meet
ing of children in the afternoon, show
ing that he can still do as much work
as the average young minister.
The record of his brother, Dr. John
B. McGehee, pastor of the Methodist
church in Oglethorpe, is probably even
more remarkable, though he is not as
active as Rev. E. H. McGehee. Dr.
McGehee is 80 years of age, and is
now completing his sixty-first year as
an itinerant minister. During his long
service he has represented the South
Georgia conference at nine sessions of
the general conference, which meets
every four years.
During the sixty-one years he has
co-operate with Georgia in making this great
conference a wholesome inspiration not only
for the South, but for the entire nation.
In addition to addresses to be announced
e i revised official program, a few hours
will be left open for short speeches and gen
eral discussion.
Wide publicity is being given the confer
ence, and wide publicity will be given its pro
ceedings. All churches, either local or gen
eral, all missionary societies, and boards,
Young People’s Societies of the different de
nominations, Young Men’s and Young Wom
en's (’hristian Associations, temperance socie
ties and other organizations, having a Chris
tian and patriotic purpose, are specially urg
ed to appoint delegates to this conference, as
follows:
Ten delegates from each national body, five
from each state organiztaion and two from ev
ery other co-operating organization.
For further information address,
Executive Committee of the Civic League of
America. 622 Empire Bldg., Atlanta, Ga.
While dreams are alius o’ yesterdays!
Boys all a wishin’ they ’uz great big men
An’ men a dreamin’ they ’uz boys again.
But when the frost gits aroun’ your ears
An’ the evenin’-time is full o’ fears,
To watch the lights failin’ fast,
An’ the shadders gatherin’ on the day at last
Beclouds the face with anxiousness
An’ fills the heart with lonesomeness
That chills like winter in a Boreas Clime
An’ makes one wish for the summer-time.
But when the twilight drops over me
An’ the death-bell chimes: “Eternity”—
If then I feel your gentle touch
It won’t matter so very much
Whether the clouds shut out the shine
Or whether its winter or summer-time.
served thirty-nine years as presiding
elder in the South Georgia conference,
which gives him a longer record in
that capacity than any man in South
ern Methodism. He was also presi
dent of Andrew Female College for
two or three years and the remainder
of his long ministry has been spent
on stations and circuits.
116 Years of Preaching.
The brothers have served the Meth
odist church as ministers one hun
dred and sixteen years, which prob
ably exceeds in point of time the ser
vice of any other brothers in southern
Methodism, and they are the oldest
active ministers in the South Georgia
conference at the present time.
It would simply be as impossible
matter to estimate the great good they
have done during their life-time. They
have preached hundred and hundreds
(Continued on page 16.)
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